Tantalising tasters @ The Typing Room

19Sep

East London has always been an unfamiliar territory for me and somewhere ive always wanted to explore a whole lot more of and tonight I had the perfect starting point at this pretty hip new restaurant located in Bethnal Green, just nestled inside the Town Hall Hotel.

Only recently opened in May it is owned by Chef Lee Westcott (part of the Jason Atherton gang) who I had the pleasure of meeting on the night. The restaurant itself is very chic and you are greeted by a lovely bunch of waiters on arrival to take to your table.

The menu can offer you two options with either a 5 or 7 course taster. As you may know I am warming to the idea of these tasting type menus and something that was once under appreciated, has all of a sudden become such a modern trend in the restaurant world as more and more people choose to eat a lighter selection with a lot more choices.

I had a large appetite to fill but the 5 course option was good enough for me. The waiter was very accommodating and even allowed us to swap a few menu items around from the other menu. Now that is what I call making your guests feel special, even when they are being a right pain in the butt! A nice bottle of red from one of my favourite regions in Bordeaux was ordered and as we cheered our glasses I started to relax and anticipate the fabulous feast ahead of us.

Snacks were bought to the table first and much to my delight was some fresh made bread made of Marmite! Call me crazy but I am obsessed with the stuff (New Zealand only) so to have it in bread was like having all my Christmas’s come at once. Still warm to tear open and literally melted in my mouth. Heaven. A second favourite was the profiterole filled with the most amazing basil I have ever tried. Two was just not enough I tell you. Along came the first starter of raw scallop, dill and raspberry. You know my one true loves of seafood is a scallop and when I took the first bite I couldn’t even tell you how good it was. Don’t be fooled by the slimy texture, this was to die for!

Next up was the yeasted cauliflower, raisins, capers and mint. It sounds like an awful combination but I kid you not, the flavours were unbelievable, leaving a nice burnt cauliflower sensation after every mouthful. Lamb, aubergine, yogurt and onions soon followed. Huge fan of this meat and super fussy since I am from the land of the best lamb in the world. The bar you could say is raised pretty high in this category. I loved the added touch of mint dressing inside the onion – very creative. Verdict = pristine.

The evening really couldn’t get much better until the all highly anticipated desserts started to arrive. I was totally ready to dig in. A miniature bowl of a perfect fluffy meringue bursting with an icy cold tropical flavour entered my mouth. Almost like eating a fruit iceblock if you like, but far, far better than that. Seconds please 🙂

Last but not least was the chocolate, lovage and hazelnut. Absolute quality. Why is it that the chocolate desserts always win our hearts over.

Speaking of winning hearts over, you wouldn’t believe what came out after this. I will never say no to Macaron and when they are salted caramel flavour, you have definitely won me over hands down.

What a splendid way to finish the evening.

One thing I really loved about this place is the fact that the staff are so hands on with their customers. The manager frequently stopped by our table to ask our opinion and how we felt about the food. TheSommelier had an excellent knowledge of their wine list and the chefs are very interactive with an open style kitchen at the front of the restaurant.

Brilliant, sophisticated, utterly fantastic. I would not be surprised if the Typing room is next in line for a Michelin star.